does it?” she asked, gingerly crossing the room. Her voice practically echoed off the walls; the penguin palace was a cavern. A zillion of the funny birds were walking and swimming and preening and shitting all over the place.
“Says the cook!”
“Hey, if we’re talking a nice fillet or maybe a decent gumbo or chowder, I’ll touch the dead fish, all right? But unless you’ve got some butter and flour in that little cart of yours…”
“Sorry. Just hoses and buckets.”
“Oooh, sexy.”
“Now, just toss it lightly—it’s a little early for them to start eating out of your hand.”
“Years too early.” She picked a smelt or whatever the hell it was out of the bucket and tossed it. One of the penguins snatched it out of the air. Yeesh! Carnivore birds who couldn’t fly. But who came up to her knee and could make lunch out of her patella. This got better and better. “Well, this has been fulfilling and all, and I’ve certainly learned all sorts of new and interesting things about you—”
“Nice try. How about another one?”
“How about not?” But she grabbed another smelt, and threw it at a penguin about three yards in front of her. “So, this is what you do all day?”
“Not all day. Some days I have to go see a shrink because my fiancée is really stubborn.”
“You’re a real fucking comedian.”
“Are you nervous about Boston?”
“That was a subtle subject change. Actually,” she said, tossing another fish, “I just heard about Boston.”
“Jenny?”
“Yeah, she asked me. But you know, David, you could have asked me.” She was trying hard not to pout.
“Well,” he said, looking faintly surprised, “I put it on my list and delegated it to Jenny. She wouldn’t have asked you without my say-so. So it really was like I’d asked you.”
Christina sighed. “David, David, David…”
“What?”
“Never mind. To answer your question, I’m looking forward to it. Except for the penguin angle. I seem to be totally unable to get away from penguins in my new life.”
David laughed and gave her a quick hug, which she enjoyed entirely too much, given that this was a marriage of convenience. “Sorry about that. But they’ve been talking about opening the new wing for quite a while, and I didn’t want to put them off any longer.”
“You’re a prince. They’ll wait.”
“Well, yes. But why should they have to?”
“Good answer.”
“Anyway, now that they’ve expanded their exhibit, they’d like me to come down for the dedication ceremony. It’s what Jenny and Edmund refer to as a fluff job…no real pressure, no tough questions, just smiling for the cameras, cutting ribbons, and looking appropriately modest. Piece of cake, right, Christina?”
“I guess.” She still had a hard time believing she was news, but supposed her fellow Americans needed to be distracted from their economic woes. More, she loved Boston, and was anxious to get out of the palace for a few days.
And she kind of liked the idea of traveling with David as a couple. Weird, but there it was.
“If you get nervous,” he was saying, “just hold my hand really tightly and smile.”
She had planned to do that anyway.
“W ell, well,” he said the next morning, looking considerably less amused, “if it isn’t my fiancée, the drooling psycho.”
“Uh…good morning?” She looked up from chopping chives for her scrambled eggs. “Want something?”
“Yes, but I doubt it’s anything you’re going to actually do.”
“Oh, sit down. And calm down.” She watched as he stalked across the large palace kitchen and slapped the paper down on the chopping block, nearly upsetting her chive pile. It didn’t escape her notice that the kitchen instantly emptied of the few servants who had been there. Apparently the prince in a temper was a rare sight, and nobody wanted to be around for it. “Hmm, not a bad picture. You can see my teeth. Probably nobody knew I had teeth.”
“The picture
“Says the cook!”
“Hey, if we’re talking a nice fillet or maybe a decent gumbo or chowder, I’ll touch the dead fish, all right? But unless you’ve got some butter and flour in that little cart of yours…”
“Sorry. Just hoses and buckets.”
“Oooh, sexy.”
“Now, just toss it lightly—it’s a little early for them to start eating out of your hand.”
“Years too early.” She picked a smelt or whatever the hell it was out of the bucket and tossed it. One of the penguins snatched it out of the air. Yeesh! Carnivore birds who couldn’t fly. But who came up to her knee and could make lunch out of her patella. This got better and better. “Well, this has been fulfilling and all, and I’ve certainly learned all sorts of new and interesting things about you—”
“Nice try. How about another one?”
“How about not?” But she grabbed another smelt, and threw it at a penguin about three yards in front of her. “So, this is what you do all day?”
“Not all day. Some days I have to go see a shrink because my fiancée is really stubborn.”
“You’re a real fucking comedian.”
“Are you nervous about Boston?”
“That was a subtle subject change. Actually,” she said, tossing another fish, “I just heard about Boston.”
“Jenny?”
“Yeah, she asked me. But you know, David, you could have asked me.” She was trying hard not to pout.
“Well,” he said, looking faintly surprised, “I put it on my list and delegated it to Jenny. She wouldn’t have asked you without my say-so. So it really was like I’d asked you.”
Christina sighed. “David, David, David…”
“What?”
“Never mind. To answer your question, I’m looking forward to it. Except for the penguin angle. I seem to be totally unable to get away from penguins in my new life.”
David laughed and gave her a quick hug, which she enjoyed entirely too much, given that this was a marriage of convenience. “Sorry about that. But they’ve been talking about opening the new wing for quite a while, and I didn’t want to put them off any longer.”
“You’re a prince. They’ll wait.”
“Well, yes. But why should they have to?”
“Good answer.”
“Anyway, now that they’ve expanded their exhibit, they’d like me to come down for the dedication ceremony. It’s what Jenny and Edmund refer to as a fluff job…no real pressure, no tough questions, just smiling for the cameras, cutting ribbons, and looking appropriately modest. Piece of cake, right, Christina?”
“I guess.” She still had a hard time believing she was news, but supposed her fellow Americans needed to be distracted from their economic woes. More, she loved Boston, and was anxious to get out of the palace for a few days.
And she kind of liked the idea of traveling with David as a couple. Weird, but there it was.
“If you get nervous,” he was saying, “just hold my hand really tightly and smile.”
She had planned to do that anyway.
“W ell, well,” he said the next morning, looking considerably less amused, “if it isn’t my fiancée, the drooling psycho.”
“Uh…good morning?” She looked up from chopping chives for her scrambled eggs. “Want something?”
“Yes, but I doubt it’s anything you’re going to actually do.”
“Oh, sit down. And calm down.” She watched as he stalked across the large palace kitchen and slapped the paper down on the chopping block, nearly upsetting her chive pile. It didn’t escape her notice that the kitchen instantly emptied of the few servants who had been there. Apparently the prince in a temper was a rare sight, and nobody wanted to be around for it. “Hmm, not a bad picture. You can see my teeth. Probably nobody knew I had teeth.”
“The picture
Similar Books
